Coastal Services Center

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Mapping Techniques: Satellites and Aerial Photos

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Summary Satellite Imaging Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI)

Aerial Photography Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR)

Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging

Image of aircraft and hyperspectral imaging sensor. Courtesy: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) splits the visible and infrared light spectrum into many (greater than 100) narrow, adjacent bands. The sensor, generally mounted on light aircraft, takes images from contiguous regions of the spectrum, typically with much finer resolution. Since different substances reflect the various wavelengths differently, HSI analysis can be used to identify benthic habitats such as live coral, sand, and algae.

Advantages and Limitations

Airborne hyperspectral imaging is an emerging technology for classifying benthic habitats in coastal zones. The limitations associated with hyperspectral imaging include its relatively high cost and overall lack of availability to average users. Although this technique can achieve far better resolution than multispectral instruments, it is still primarily useful only in shallow, non-turbid water.

What do hyperspectral images look like?

Uses

Hyperspectral imaging can be used to monitor oceanic and coastal zone regions for everything from oil spills and pulp mill effluent to schools of fish and coastal zone water flow. It has been particularly successful in classifying tropical benthic habitats including coral reefs, seagrass, macroalgae, unconsolidated sediments, uncolonized hard-bottom areas, and encrusting algae.

In addition, the NOAA Biogeography Program is using hyperspectral imaging to map habitat features of intertidal marshes, as well as shallow estuarine and marine systems.

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